Farm Report: Hot start for Tuiasosopo

Shortstop batting .469 in first year away from home

By JOE KAISER, SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, April 18, 2005

The 2005 season was supposed to be Matt Tuiasosopo's first real test as a pro. After a strong half season in his debut last summer, the shortstop from Woodinville would be spending six months far from home, playing in his first full season against older, more experienced competition.

If this is a test, Tuiasosopo is handling it like a high school senior asked to recite the alphabet. In a his first 10 days with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Mariners' Class A affiliate in the Midwest League, the 18-year-old has recorded a hit in all eight games he's played.

"I'm going up to the plate nice and relaxed," Tuiasosopo said after a four-hit game on Sunday. "I've felt real comfortable and real confident ever since the start of last year in Peoria. In the spring, and so far in Wisconsin, I've been with (hitting coach) Tommy Cruz and we've been working real hard. I'm seeing the ball well. Everything is just feeling right, feeling comfortable at the plate."

His statistics -- a .469 batting average (15-32), a home run, nine RBIs, three walks and two strikeouts -- speak to that comfort zone.

Tuiasosopo struck out 36 times in 101 at-bats for Everett last season. The difference this year has been a relaxed mindset and an aggressive approach each time that he's stepped to the plate.

"I'm staying more aggressive and getting more fastballs to hit," he said. "I'm laying off offspeed (pitches) until I have to, and getting the pitches I'd like to hit.

"There's only been a few times I've been working the count. I usually look for my pitch in the first couple pitches. I'm looking for my pitch that first or second pitch. I've been getting my hacks in."

He hasn't, however, been used in the same role on defense every day. To this point, Tuiasosopo has been on a routine that the organization has kept to: two days at shortstop, a day at designated hitter, then an off day.

He's been through the process twice and sounds open to the plan, apparently devised to allow the teenager to focus on his offense while he eases into the defensive side.

That isn't to say Tuiasosopo hasn't worked equally as hard at improving his abilities at shortstop, a position where few believe he'll stick but one he hopes to play this year and into the future. In four starts at shortstop, he has four errors -- some fielding, some throwing -- but remains unfazed.

"I've been working with (pitching coach) Brad Holman on my throwing, and I think it's really going to help," he said.

SNELLING RETURNS: Outfielder Chris Snelling returned to the field Saturday after missing spring training because of a knee injury, reporting to Tacoma in time for the Rainiers' game against Fresno. The affable Australian -- whose accent is now practically non-existent -- was a designated hitter in his first game and recorded a double and two walks. He has three hits and four walks in his first 11 plate appearances.

Snelling, 23, was limited to 10 games with the Mariners' rookie league affiliate in Peoria, Ariz., last season due to wrist and elbow injuries. Since suffering a torn ACL in his left knee while rounding third base with the Mariners on June 4, 2002, the outfielder has appeared in only 75 games over the past two seasons.

CABRERA INJURED: Wisconsin infielder Asdrubal Cabrera waited all winter for the season to start, and once it did the smooth-fielding Venezuelan could hardly stick around to take it all in.

Cabrera, one of the organization's top prospects, was injured in freak fashion late in the team's first game of the year, severely spraining his left ankle when he tried to return to second base after a fly ball hit to the outfield. He'll miss at least three more weeks.

NOTES: LHP Shawn Nottingham, one of the top young pitchers in the system, reported to high-Class A Inland Empire on Friday after missing the first part of the season because of a shoulder impingement. A 13th-round pick in 2002, Nottingham was the ace of Everett's staff last season, going 9-3 with a 3.15 ERA in 14 starts. ... RHP Jeff Heaverlo is back with Tacoma after pitching just 5 2/3 innings in 2004 because of a muscle injury near his right armpit. He fared well in his first three outings before being hit hard in his fourth, allowing four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings Sunday. ...

Matt Rogelstad has been little more than a utility player in his first two years in the system, but the former Arkansas State University star is on fire at Inland Empire. Playing mostly third base, Rogelstad is batting .571 (20-35) with a team-high 12 RBIs through eight games. ... LHP George Sherrill, optioned to Tacoma late in the spring, is off to a rocky start in his second tour with the Rainiers. Sherrill, who turns 28 today, has struggled with his command and is 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA. He does, however, have nine strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.